High School Never Ends
by Blueberry Momoko
Summary: And you still don't have the right look, and you don't have the right friends, nothing changes but the names, the faces, and the trends, high school never ends! Faithshipping!
1. Welcome to Duel Academy

High School Never Ends

Author's Notes: Hey guys, it's Blueberry-kun! Here's my new story, High School Never Ends! One day back in late summer, I wondered to myself, "How cool would it be if the people from Satellite in 5D's eighteen and under went to Duel Academy?" (That includes Yusei and Crow, since they are 18.) It kind of got pushed to the back of my mind as school started, but back in October I went on vacation with my family for my grandparent's fiftieth anniversary. As we were driving to Newark Airport to go home, I was listening to 'High School Never Ends' by Bowling for Soup and the ideas started flowing! Hence, my first multi-chapter 5D's story, 'High School Never Ends'! Unfortunately, there is no WRGP in this, so it's kind of AU-ish in its own way. On with the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh 5D's. That, as all other YuGiOh series, belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

**Yusei's POV**

"_Why _are we here again, guys?" Rally asked. Truly the question was directed toward no one, but Crow being Crow answered any way.

"Because the government thinks we need an _education_. Like we didn't learn everything we need to know in Satellite!" he spat. After a short silence, he turned to me and asked, "How much you wanna bet that Jack is laughing his ass off right now?"

The reason he said this was because the government had "found" some leftover money, enough to send the kids of age in Satellite (which was between eleven and eighteen) to Duel Academy in Neo Domino. (This is also why Jack couldn't come, as he's twenty.)Imagine Crow, Rally, and I's shock when we got acceptance letters in the mail. I could've understood Rally, but Crow and I had been dueling since we could walk and talk and I was the King. (A card I never liked to play.)(A/N: Unintentional pun.) The whole story had been covered by our very own Carly Nagisa. For someone who was Jack's ex-girlfriend, she was oddly close to everyone, especially Aki and _Mikage_, of all people. But, that's a different story.

"I don't," I replied, beginning to proceed toward the school.

"Why not?" Crow protested.

I stopped briefly and turned to face my bristly-haired friend. "Because you'd win," I responded. I turned back to the school and began to open the door. Behind me I heard Rally trying not to crack up and Crow blow off my comment. As I continued to open to the door, I truly began to wonder what we were getting into.

The school was just as I had remembered it with light blue walls lined with similarly colored lockers. I checked my schedule, which also contained my locker number and combination.

'Locker B-12,' I mused, scanning the rows down the line.

"Hoping your neighbor isn't some annoyingly giggly cheerleader, eh, Yusei? Or are you hoping that it _is_?" Crow asked me. I rolled my eyes.

"Leave him alone, Crow," Rally said almost absently. I could tell as hard as he was trying to hide it, Rally had never been in a place this big with this many people.

"It'll be all right, Rally," I said. I found my locker next to a girl whose face I couldn't see. I ignored her and began to turn my combination.

Then, the locker door slammed and a familiar voice said amusedly, "Fate must really like us, Yusei."

I looked at the girl in surprise. "Aki!"

The red-haired psychic giggled. "That's me," she said. She saw me fumbling with my locker and said, "That one always needs an adjustment." She then banged it in three spots on it and it popped open.

"How did you-?" I began.

"Last kid who had this locker always needed my help," she explained, smiling.

I was getting ready to smile back when an unfamiliar voice shouted, "A-_ki_!" Unintentionally, my muscles tensed. I looked over to see a boy about our age with brown hair and blue eyes make his way over to us. (A/N: I'm leaving him pretty much open to interpretation.) He wasn't physically unattractive. Suddenly, I felt very possessive of Aki, but not in a brotherly way.

The smile melted off her face, only to be replaced by a deep frown. "Oh, dear sweet God, no," she muttered.

When the boy finally approached us, he slung an arm around Aki's shoulders. "Hey," he said to me. "I haven't seen you around before, but you seem familiar. Sorry, Haru Ikumi."

Haru Ikumi. A name I would associate with extreme hatred. Later. He made no move to be any friendlier than that. Then, Aki's face brightened and she moved to stand in front of Haru, much to my relief.

"Haru-san! This is my friend, Yusei Fudo!" she said with obvious false cheeriness.

His eyes widened. "_You're_ Yusei Fudo- san?" he asked incredulously.

"The Satellite's Shooting Star!" Aki burbled with true pride now.

I grinned. "I don't like _mentioning_ it, though, _right_, Aki?" I said, addressing the young woman next to me.

She blanched. "Right, sorry," she said.

"So, Aki," Ikumi-san said, most likely eager to change the subject. "See you at lunch?"

"As always," she replied as if she had to say this every day.

Without saying another word, Ikumi-san sauntered off, shoulders slumped. Aki leaned against the lockers and sighed.

"Does he bother you, Aki?" I asked her, laying a hand on her shoulder.

She smiled gently. "No," she said. Then she laughed and said, "But, I think he thinks we're dating."

"_What?_" I asked with unmasked surprise.

"Yusei, chill out, he means nothing. He's not my type," she replied.

I blinked. "What is your type?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes and stood up. "You'll find out soon enough, Fudo," she said, winking. Then, she snatched my schedule, knocked my books out of my locker and in to my hands, and slammed my locker door closed. "Come on, we need to start walking or else we won't get to class in time. Mr. Hiran is unbearable when you're late. We'll meet the twins along the way."

Then, she stopped me, smiled her beautiful smile and said, "By the way, welcome to Duel Academy."


	2. Coffee and Getting It Right

High School Never Ends

Author's Notes: Hey, guys! It's me again! The A/Ns aren't going to be as long this time. I just want to ask you guys if you had any suggestions for some high school things Yusei, Crow, Rally, and Aki to go through before this story ends. By the way, toward the middle of this, there's going to be a surprise couple, so I wanna see who can guess what it is. Ciao!

Disclaimer: I don't own YuGiOh 5D's. That all belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

**Yusei's POV**

I stumbled out of the doors and in to bright sunlight. I shielded my eyes from it and heard Crow say, "_That_ was one of the _longest_ days of my _life_."

"Agreed, Crow, agreed," Rally said. I grinned and nodded.

"What? You've had longer?" Aki asked facetiously.

We all looked at each other, then turned to her and I answered, "Days in the Facility were notoriously long."

"Oh," was all she said, looking away. My smile faltered.

"I'm sorry, Aki, we were just joking," I said softly.

She looked back up. "It's alright, it's just that I've only known you with a marker, so I guess I keep forgetting that that's a Facility symbol," she said. I looked over my shoulder to get some help from Crow or Rally, but they just glanced at each other, almost knowingly. I glared.

"Hogan, Dawson, say what you're thinking," I said.

"It's nothing, _Fudo_," Rally said, throwing my own last name back in my face.

"Same way your old crush on Ruka was nothing?" I countered.

The yellow-capped boy blushed. "I didn't have a crush on Ruka," he muttered, looking away. I chuckled.

"Rally, I don't think I ever I told you this, but you talk in your sleep," I replied.

As Rally began to splutter, I heard a young male voice call out, "Yusei! Over here!"

I looked up to see the teal-haired, amber-eyed bundle of energy that was Rua Kuniumi (A/N: There's a rumor going around that that's the twins' last name, so that's what I'm going with.) barreling towards me. Or should I say, barreling _past_ me. I caught his wrist before he could run straight in to Crow.

"Damn, Rua, what'd you do, eat forty chocolate bars this morning?" he asked the energetic boy, who was bouncing crazily on his feet in my grip.

"Close enough," sighed the female twin, Ruka, taking her brother's hand from me.

"Whaddya mean, close enough?" Rally asked.

"Bob was an idiot and gave him some coffee this morning," she said, indicating her burly friend.

"Yo, Bob! How'd you get coffee this morning?" Crow shouted through cupped hands at one of the four kids approaching us. Bob blushed, Tenpei and Patty laughed, and Sly remained enigmatic, as usual.

"The _point _isn't how he got it, it's how we get it out of Rua's system," Ruka replied exasperatedly.

"But I don't wanna get it out of my system!" Rua whined very loudly, but then his eyes caught a butterfly and he shut up. I hate to say it, but even without sugar, this was typical spastic Rua.

Aki sighed. "I've got a trick, but you have to pinch his nose, Ruka," the red-haired psychic said. When Ruka looked troubled, Aki said, "Trust me, my parents did this to me all the time when I had had too much sugar before the accident. It works just fine and no one gets hurt." She drew a water bottle out of her backpack and uncapped it.

Following orders, (rather reluctantly, I might add) Ruka pinched her brother's nose and his mouth popped open from shock.

"Ruka! What are you doing?!" Rua shouted.

"This is for your own good, Rua," the girl simply replied. Then, Aki pounced on him and poured some water down his throat until there was a good amount in his mouth.

"Let go!" Aki ordered, and as soon as Ruka let go, Aki smacked Rua's jaw closed to where he had no choice but to swallow.

When he finished, he sucked in a deep breath and said, "What was that for, Aki-neechan?"

"Like your sister said, your own good and maybe even our sanity," the older girl replied. Rua just glared at her and Crow, Rally, and I stifled the urge to laugh.

"Um, are we just going to stand here or are going to head back to the guys' place?" Patty asked shyly.

I smiled at her. "Come on. Jack'll mind but that never stopped you guys from coming before," I replied.

"I don't know, Yusei. With Jack's coffee fetish, I'm not sure it'd be safe to let Rua in there," Crow said, folding his arms behind his head. Rua then launched himself at Crow and they both took off down the street.

"Do we really have to go catch them?" Aki asked after a couple of seconds.

"Yeah," I said, beginning to speed-walk forward.

"Why?" Aki questioned, struggling to keep up with me as the other kids raced ahead.

"Because I forgot my house key this morning," I replied, starting to run. Suddenly, I felt Aki's hand slip in to mine and I felt my face go hot at the gesture. Soon, we sprinted side by side, hand in hand, all the way to the highway before we caught up with Crow and Rua.

The next day at school, when I thought things couldn't any worse, (Ikumi didn't exactly get mine and Aki's 'get lost' look.) they did. It was only Aki and I at the table; the others had gone out to play soccer.

"Oh, Izayoi-san!" a voice called across the lunch room.

"Crap," Aki said, casting her eyes down at her bento. "I hoped she'd stay sick until you guys got adjusted."

"Who?" I asked, turning around, coming face to, um, face with a rather large set of breasts. I looked up to see who the breasts belonged to to see a face that seemed familiar but not.

"Izayoi-san, who's your friend here?" the girl asked, looking at me with absurdly curious eyes.

"Like you don't know, Ikumi-_chan_," Aki said, spitting the honorific in to the girl's face, "your brother's probably told you all about him."

So this was Ikumi-san's sister. She looked like her brother and acted like him, too. Great. Just perfect.

Ikumi- chan's eyes widened in pretend shock. "So you're Yusei- kun! Haru's told me _all _about you," she simpered.

Aki stood up from the table. "_Don't_ call him Yusei- kun like he's your friend," she growled.

"Aki," I whispered.

"What?" she whirled around on me.

My eyes met hers. "Please calm down," I said, laying a hand on her shoulder. Her slight frame relaxed and her eyes softened around the edges.

"Right, sorry," she said, sitting down.

I addressed the less-than-modestly dressed girl in front of us. "So, see you around, Ikumi-chan?"

She brightened from her alarmed demeanor from Aki's outburst. "It's okay, Fudo- san," she replied, a tad uncertainly, being careful to use my last name and the proper honorific. She winked and said, "But you can call me Ayah- chan, okay?"

I grinned. "Not a chance, Ikumi- chan," I said.

Her face fell. "Okay," she said, turning and walking away. I looked back to see Aki packing up the rest of her lunch.

"Aki, do you want me to be blunt with you right now?" I asked her, seeing the depressed look on her face.

"Yes, that would be nice," she said lifelessly.

"High school," I said, trailing off.

"Yes?" the girl asked me, glancing up at me.

"High school is definitely making me wish I had had some more experience with girls growing up," I told her. Despite herself, Aki laughed and we both stood from the lunch table.

With her back to me, she said, "Trust me, then, Fudo, when I say you have a _long_ way to go. Come on, let's go get the rest of them before they kill themselves playing soccer."

As we walked out of the lunch room, I could feel many pairs of eyes resting on our backs, but I didn't care. All I could see, hear or feel was Aki standing next to me, a cheerful smile on her face. My mind rested on her words and I secretly agreed with her.

Especially if I wanted to get it right with Aki.


	3. Interviews and Food Fights

High School Never Ends

Author's Notes: Hey, guys! It's Blueberry-kun! So far, I've only gotten ideas for what should happen to the guys at school from FarmQueen. I need more ideas! And, so far, no one has guessed the mystery couple yet! (Partially my fault, as I haven't really given any hints of who it is yet. I'm planning on doing that this chapter.) When I do give hints, feel free to e-mail me or send a private message for ideas or guesses, okay? Ciao!

Disclaimer: I don't own YuGiOh 5D's. All rights belong to Kazuki Takahashi.

**Yusei's POV**

As Crow, Rally and I were working on our math in dueling homework about a week after the lunch room ordeal, we heard a knock at the door, interrupting the deathly quiet. Weird. We weren't expecting anybody.

"Who the hell is that?" Crow asked, looking up from his textbook.

"I don't know," Rally replied absently from the beat up couch, erasing an answer from his worksheet.

"Crow, could you get it?" I asked.

"Why me?" he protested.

"_You're_ the one leaning against the staircase," I said from the wall opposite Crow.

"_Fine_," Crow huffed, slamming his textbook shut and setting down. As he ascended the staircase, he muttered, "Let's just hope it's not Rua with coffee because if it is, I'm not letting him in."

Rally snorted. "Poor guy's never gonna here the end of that one," he said.

"Yeah, no kidding," I responded.

Then, Crow opened the door and let out a surprised, "Carls! What are you doing here?"

My head snapped up. Carls was Aki's private nickname for Carly, something we picked up when Aki accidentally called her that in front of us.

"I came to talk to you guys for the paper. Didn't you get my message?" the bespectacled reporter asked innocently, looking from Crow to Rally and I. Rally reached over and hit the message button on our receiver. It let out a short beep before playing back Carly's voice, saying that she would be at our place around five.

The three of us looked at each other. "Jack," we all said in unison.

Carly smiled, understanding what was going on. It had been three months since she broke up with Jack and despite his gruff demeanor, Jack really did care what happened to us. He was probably didn't want us to see Carly and start asking about how she felt about it.

'We're not Aki or Mikage, Jack,' I thought exasperatedly.

"Where is Jack, anyway?" she asked, looking around.

"He's visiting Mikage at the station," I told her.

"I bet Ushio's thrilled," she said sarcastically, plunking down on the couch next to Rally. Mikage herself had taken the liberty of telling all of us one night about how the night Jack came to her apartment to declare himself to her, she had come to the conclusion that she would ask out Ushio if it worked out between Carly and Jack, even if it killed her. All of us (except Ushio) thought this was the most hysterical and emotional conclusion practical Mikage ever came up with.

"So, what'd the paper want you to talk to us about?" Crow asked, taking his position back by the staircase wall.

"Just how you guys are adjusting to school," she replied, fishing a notepad and pencil out of her shoulder bag. "By the way, Yusei, I'm not allowed to talk to you specifically because they don't want your name in print until your duel on Saturday," she told me.

"That's fine. I'd actually prefer my name to not be in print on Saturday either," I said.

"It doesn't work that way, Shooting Star," Carly responded, winking at me through her spiral glasses. "Oh, and Angela's covering you on Saturday."

"Are you telling him this so he can run before she gets there?" Crow asked jokingly.

"No," she said with a giggle, "but that is sound advice."

With that, Carly launched in to her interview of Crow and Rally and I grinned, happy to not be in the spotlight for once.

When Carly left around six-thirty, Crow offered to walk her out. When he returned, he said, "Carly's a really sweet girl."

Rally and I looked at each other. "Well, yeah, Carly's a great girl. She's kinda like Mikage," Rally said, cocking an eyebrow. "But why are you mentioning it?"

Crow glanced at us, and then looked out the window, his marked face bathed in orange sunlight. "I'm not exactly sure," he said softly.

When I looked at my friend, I saw a very familiar look on his face.

The next day at school was interesting, to say the least. As Aki, Crow, and I were sitting down during first period, Ikumi-san barged in late with his hair spiked and streaked yellow. Aki sighed, Crow snickered, and I was just annoyed. But then, my anger changed to worry. Why was he copying me? To get Aki? When I cast a glance at the girl beside me and saw her roll her eyes, my worry melted. His attempts weren't working. Yet.

"Baka," my spiky-haired friend muttered from beside me as Ikumi-san took a seat behind us. I could feel his glare boring in to mine and Crow's backs.

"Ayah?" he asked his sister.

"Hm?" she said, not looking up from her magazine.

"Fail?"

"Epic fail," she responded and he groaned sadly. I grinned.

'Not today, Ikumi-san,' I thought. 'Not today.'

At lunch, we all stayed in inside because around third period, the sky decided to just break open and pour down rain. The whole ordeal was absolutely crazy with eight kids sitting at the table (including Crow), seven of which were throwing food at each other (Sly excluded, Crow included) when Ikumi-chan decided to come over.

Placing both hands on the table, she turned to me and asked, "Fudo- san, are you sure it's safe here? I mean, there's so much activity. We wouldn't want, say, Hayano- kun's thermos to slip across the table and hit your dueling hand, now would we? Why don't you sit with us?"As she said this, she indicated the bespectacled boy's thermos getting knocked around across the table as food was thrown. I couldn't help but grin slightly as I heard Aki fake gagging in to her lunch. Ikumi- chan glared at her.

"You think you're _so_ cute, don't you, Izayoi- san?" she asked my friend contemptuously.

"No, but I'm pretty sure you think _you_ are," Aki replied. Ikumi- chan made a low growl in her throat.

Suddenly, Rua shouted, "Incoming!" Sure enough, as Ikumi- chan predicted, Tenpei's thermos was sliding on a hard fast line toward our end of the table. Aki moved out of the way, but her arm smacked it even harder toward Ikumi- chan and I. I put my arm out to rebound the thermos. Instead, it flipped over my arm straight in to Ikumi- chan's sparsely buttoned shirt. She let out an ear-splitting scream and the whole cafeteria quieted.

"Ayah!" Ikumi-san shouted, running toward us.

"Crap," I muttered.

"What happened here?" I heard a teacher's voice say. It was our homeroom teacher, the acting in dueling teacher, Mrs. Daiki. (A/N: I had watched 'High School Musical' the week before, so this is a parody of the cafeteria scene.) The whole point of her class was to show us how we could manipulate our mannerisms to either lure our opponent in to a false sense of security or completely freak them out. ([Not] surprisingly, this was a class Crow excelled at. Points of reference are his duel with Jeager and this one time when him and I were six and he pretended to spaz, making me overconfident and also helping along my defeat.)

"_She_," Ikumi-chan said scathingly, pointing at Aki, "knocked Hayano- kun's thermos toward me producing this incident."

Mrs. Daiki then turned to us and addressed Aki first. "Izayoi- san, I expected better behavior from a top student," she said before turning to me. She fingered my sleeve, which was spattered with Tenpei's lunch at the cuff, before continuing. "And _you_, Fudo- san, I expected better behavior from a young man such as yourself who was raised in Satellite. Some of the best behaved students in this school now are children from Satellite. And as for your young friends here, you all get detention."

"But, Mrs. Daiki- sensei, he didn't do anything!" Ikumi- chan protested.

Mrs. Daiki yanked my arm up by the sleeve. "_This_ is more than enough proof for me, Ikumi- chan, unless you want detention as well," she muttered. Ikumi- chan shrunk away.

Aki opened her mouth to protest, but Ruka, who was sitting beside her, placed her hand on her arm and shook her head.

The teacher leaned down to our table. "Does anyone have questions? Concerns?" she asked loudly. When no one answered, she said, "Good. So I'll see you all after school."

As Aki and I watched her walk away, I heard Ruka say to Sly, "I'm really sorry that we got you in to trouble, Sly. We should've said something."

"No, Ruka- chan, it's fine. I saw Ikumi- chan coming. I should've warned you," Sly said quietly.

Aki reached across the table and placed a hand on one of the boy's slim shoulders. "It's alright, Sly-san. Whatever we're going to do, we're going to do it together," she said. She looked up at the rest of us and said, "Right, guys?"

We all grinned, me mostly because I could barely believe the change in Aki that happened in the past six months. Once, all Aki could show was anger and hate. Now, she glowed with a great capacity to love and accept as she had been accepted.

"Right," we all said in unison.

"_What_ in the good name of God was that woman playing while we were in there?" Crow asked irritably, walking out of school after detention.

"All the soundtracks from the 'High School Musical' franchise," Aki replied.

"The first movie is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary this year. I have all three," Ruka said cheerfully.

"So that's why you were humming along with all of them," Rally said, punching the girl lightly in the shoulder.

"You know, Rally, I knew all along that you liked me, I just pretended I didn't," she said playfully.

"_WHAT?"_ Rally managed from shock as Ruka ran off, hand in hand with Patty, both of them laughing.

As the red-haired boy tried to catch up with the two girls, I couldn't help but chuckle.

Aki was watching them, jaw open, a pleasantly surprised look on her face. "She is so evil," she said, of course referring to Ruka. "Cute, but evil."

I looked down at the girl next to me, remembering something Ikumi- chan had said earlier. "Why are you saying that?" I asked.

She returned my gaze. "What do you mean?" she replied.

"It almost seems like you're saying that because you don't think you are," I supposed.

"Oh, yeah, tough, gutsy, and a psychic. Who wouldn't think that's just adorable?" Aki responded sardonically.

"Ikumi- san seems to think so," I alleged.

"Haru Ikumi," she said, picking her words carefully, "is a complete idiot of he does."

"Then I must be a complete idiot, too," I responded. She looked at me with surprise.

"Excuse me?" she inquired with wide eyes.

At that look, my heart melted. I had always had a soft spot where Aki was concerned. "I said I must be a complete idiot, too, because I think you're _very_ cute," I said, smiling down at her. She looked down at her feet and blushed. Somewhere in the back of my mind, something was screaming, "No! You'll give yourself away! What if she doesn't like you back!?"

But, another part of my mind, much larger than the first one, was saying, "March onward, soldier, march onward."

Trust me, I was going to.


	4. Sadie Hawkins Dance and Surprise Dates

High School Never Ends

Author's Notes: Hey, guys! It's Blueberry-kun! Thanks for all your support, first of all. I love looking at my e-mail and seeing all your reviews, story favorites, and alerts. It makes me feel very loved. Don't forget, I'm always listening to ideas, so don't be afraid to send them in. On with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own YuGiOh 5D's. All of that belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

**Aki's POV**

"_Crap_," I muttered beneath my breath.

"What is it, Aki- neechan?" Rua asked from beside me. The twins, Tenpei and I had walked to school together, but then they had broken off to find Bob, Patty, and Sly.

"That," I snarled, pointing at the overtly colorful poster surrounded by a crowd of kids, mostly girls.

"'Sadie Hawkins Dance'?" a thin voice asked behind me, making me jump.

"Rally! Don't do that!" I scolded the red-haired boy behind me.

He blanched. "Sorry, Aki- neechan," he murmured, casting his eyes down. He picked up Rua's nickname for me after a few days at Duel Academy. He then looked up at me and asked, "What's a Sadie Hawkins Dance?"

I blinked, surprised he was asking me. "It's a girls' choice dance," I responded as easily as I could. I could see the boy in front of me droop at my reply.

As he walked away, I heard a squeal of "Sadie Hawkins Dance!", then, "Rally!" I looked up to see one of the Satellite girls, Emma Sasaki, running toward him.

He perked up at the sound of his name and blushed when he saw who was calling him. "Emma!" he stammered. The girl, who looked like a cross between him and Crow, (curly, orange hair and gray eyes) grabbed him by the hand and dragged him off to a secluded corner of the hallway. I couldn't help but giggle.

Then, I turned to the other boy next to me and asked, "Who're you hoping asks you, Rua?"

As we began walking, he gave me a simple reply of, "No one in particular."

"Oh, really," I said, a smile crossing my face. If there was one thing Rua did when he didn't want to tell the truth because he was embarrassed was he didn't make eye contact. Guess what he was doing.

We heard a snort behind us and a, "Liar, liar." We looked behind us to see the rest of the kids approaching us. The speaker was Tenpei, his arms folded across his chest.

"Am not!" Rua replied indignantly, turning to face his friend.

"You've been scoping that Satellite girl from our science of dueling class since the beginning of the year. What's her name, Chihiro Jazmin?" Tenpei said, eyes narrowed playfully, a smirk on his lips.

"Chiyako Jigme," he muttered. "And who're you hoping will ask you, Hayano?" he questioned of his friend, taking a more defiant stance.

"Tenpei!" we all heard Ruka call out from the back of the crowd. Rua's and Tenpei's shoulders tensed and both their eyes widened.

"Y-y-yeah, R-r-r-ruka- chan?" Tenpei stammered, turning to face the brown-eyed girl. (A/N: I'm not stealing lyrics from Van Morrison's song! But still, 'You're my brown-eyed girl!' Couldn't resist!)

"Can I talk to you?" the girl asked. She looked around at all of the kids surrounding her and then asked, "Alone?"

"Um, sure," the bespectacled boy answered, blushing a red as dark as an apple.

As Ruka and Tenpei walked off, I said, "Damn, two for two. You better hope that Chiyako girl asks you soon, Rua, or you'll be the only kid in your grade without a date."

"Who're you going to ask, Aki- san?" Bob asked me, not unkindly, but eagerly, as we made the stroll to our lockers.

"Oh, come on, Bob, it's obvious _who_ she wants to ask, but is too nervous to," Patty replied.

"Who's that?" the burly boy asked earnestly.

"_Yusei_, baka!" Patty whisper- shouted, smacking Bob upside the head.

"Yusei? No! Yusei's my friend!" I denied. I could tell the three kids with me didn't believe a word I just said. "Okay, maybe a little, but look at that crowd!" I said, gesturing toward the crowd by his locker.

"Aki- san, all those girls want to go with him because he's the King. _You_ want to go with him because you've seen him as a normal person. You don't see him as the Dueling King, or the Satellite's Shooting Star, but as Yusei Fudo and purely that, without titles. Probably all he wants is someone to see him for him. Think on that before you chicken out," Patty said.

As I fought my way to my locker, I cast a glance at the man who had truly freed me from myself and sighed. 'I hope you're right, Patty,' I thought. 'I hope you're right.'

"Hey, um, Yusei?" I managed. It was right after school and the two of us were putting away our books, excluding the two we needed for homework. (Science and history, if you really wanted to know.)

He looked up from trying once again to open his locker. "Yeah, Aki?" he said, glancing at me with his sapphire blue eyes. I opened my mouth to finally ask him the question that had been boiling in me all day when he said, "Aki?"

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Help," he said, smiling sheepishly.

"You can defeat the lords of death, but you can't open a locker? You really are a piece, Yusei Fudo," I said, reaching over and hitting the locker in the designated spots.

"Sorry," he said, snatching his books from the shelf in the locker.

"It's fine, don't apologize. I was just joking," I said, grabbing my books out of my locker.

"I know you were. I just agree with your joke. You'd think after two months, I'd have it down to a science. And speaking of science, you said you needed help with it," he replied, smiling at me. Yusei smiled more around the kids and I more than Jack or Crow. I'd be lying if I said I didn't like his smile.

"Um, yeah, that's right," I said. "Come on. The kids and Crow are probably waiting for us." He simply nodded.

I know what you're thinking. I'll ask him.

Later.

Asking him at school was pretty much out of the question with all the girls swarming him like bees to a hive.

"Damn, Fudo, I should've gotten you a stick for your birthday last year," I said as we ducked through the crowd the third day after the announcement.

"That'd be a great gift this year," he said, checking behind him to make sure no one was following us. I couldn't help but laugh.

I honestly tried asking him when we were out of school, but he was always getting asked to help with dueling techniques by the kids or some other problem at home. So, I ended up doing the last thing I could do; I called Mikage, Carly, Ruka, and Patty.

"I give up, you guys!" I fumed, plunking down on one of the two couches of my apartment. I had called an impromptu meeting on Thursday night, begging for help.

"Aki, there's no point in getting frustrated," Mikage said softly, sitting caddy- corner for me on the couch against the wall.

"And yet, I am," I snapped. Despite her rough job, Mikage was still as sweet as can be, and she shrunk away. I sighed and rubbed my temples. "Sorry, Mikage- san. It's just that I really like him, but him being the King and all, at school, girls just won't leave him alone and then at home, Crow and Jack are always fighting, so he has to play peacemaker. I can't get him alone for one minute to ask him. It's just very annoying," I vented. I then looked up and asked, "You know what that's like, don't you, Mikage?"

The golden-eyed woman in front of me smiled gently. "Yeah, I know," she replied. "Being in love with Jack and being his assistant at the same time was a really bad time for me. Girls were always screaming over him and then he brought home dates, which was even worse. Then, he started dating Carly and despite my outward appearance, I felt like I was slowly dying inside," Mikage explained. "I'm sorry that you had to hear that, Carly." The bespectacled reporter just waved it off.

"But my problem is getting him alone," I said.

Carly, who was curled up in an overstuffed armchair on the opposite wall, pondered this for a moment. "How good of a day is Saturday for you guys?" she asked slowly.

"What do you mean Carly- san?" Ruka asked from beside me.

"We could try to get all the guys away from him on Saturday, if that's a good day for all of you," she said, pushing her glasses in to her hair.

"Yeah! The guys, Ruka, and I were going to hang out around town on Saturday, so that's out of the way," Patty said brightly.

"I could talk to Jack about going out then. It'd be a little quick, but he wouldn't care," Mikage added.

"What about Crow? That's the only stipulation," I said.

"I've got Crow handled already," Carly said shyly.

"Platonic or does it mean something?" I asked, leaning forward to analyze my clumsy friend.

"It… means something," she muttered, looking at her feet.

"No way," I whispered.

"No way! You and Crow are going out?!" Ruka asked, displaying the shock we all felt.

"It's one date. One date!" Carly shouted, holding up an index finger. "Count 'em! One!"

"Who asked who?" Mikage asked.

"Does it matter?" the black- haired woman asked sheepishly.

"Yes!" the rest of shouted in unison.

Carly groaned and put her head between her knees. "Crow asked me," she said.

"Wow," I said. "Crow never really struck me as the person to take initiative in this kind of situation."

"Can we get back to the real problem? Please?" Carly begged, lifting her head from its position.

"Right. Well, everyone's taken care of except Yusei," Mikage said happily.

"So, what do I do?" I asked her. She took my phone from the coffee table in front of us.

"Call him," she said, thrusting it at me.

"Today was really fun, don't you think, Yusei?" I asked him. It was the end of the day, the most perfect one I had had in a long time. We had gone out for lunch (as friends) to the little café we had gone to a little while after the defeat of the Dark Signers (A/N: Think episode 64.)and then we went to the park and listened to jazz band performing there. We were sitting on a bench now still in the park.

"More fun than I've had in a long time, Aki," he responded, smiling at me.

'Damn you!' I thought. 'Why is it every time you smile at me, my heart flips out on me?'

"Can you still believe that Crow and Carly went out?" I asked him, grinning back.

"No. That was the most messed up thing I had heard in a _long_ time. Not like I'm not happy for them," he said.

"Speaking of going out…" I alleged.

"Yes?" he asked me, eyebrows rising.

Why not take a crazy chance, right?

"Well, there's been something I've been meaning to ask you…"


	5. Like I'm Finally Something Real

High School Never Ends

Author's Notes: Hey guys, it's Blueberry-kun! Hope last chapter's ending was to your liking! I know how corny I ended the first three Yusei chapters, so FarmQueen gave me the idea on how to end it more vaguely. (By the way, I'm going to alternate between three Yusei chapters and then three Aki chapters.) Now, it's the night of the Sadie Hawkins Dance. Hope you like my song choices! On with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own YuGiOh 5D's or any of the songs used in this story.

**Aki's POV**

I swallowed hard. I still can't believe I did it. I asked him.

I asked him and he said yes!

_Flashback_

"_Well, there's been something I've been meaning to ask you…"_

"_What is it, Aki?" he asked me._

"_Will you go to the Sadie Hawkins with me?" I rushed out, slamming my eyes shut._

"_What?" he asked again, but I could hear the laugh in his voice._

_I swallowed and tried again more slowly. "Will you go to the Sadie Hawkins with me?" My voice ended in an unintentional squeak. _

_I looked up hopefully to see a slight frown on his face. 'Oh, no, he already has a date,' I thought._

_Then, his face broke out in to one of those smiles that made my heart race. "I was hoping you'd never ask, Aki," he said. "I've had to turn down so many girls because I was waiting for you to come around."_

_After that, I didn't hear anything else he said. The only phrase echoing in my head was, "I was waiting for you…"_

_End Flashback_

"You look beautiful, Aki," Mikage gushed, laying her hands my bare shoulders. I stood in front of the full length mirror in my room. The dress I wore was rose red, had thin black straps, a black bow around the high waist, pleated all around from the waist down to the very edge of the skirt, and embroidered with black roses (of course). I wore a pair of black heels and a touch of makeup, not enough to obvious, but just enough to be noticeable.

I smiled. "Thanks, Mikage," I responded. After a short pause, I asked, "You hid Carly's camera, right?"

"Yes!" the aforementioned woman shouted from my kitchen, probably looking for her documenting device.

"Yusei's the luckiest guy in that school to be going with you, Aki," Mikage whispered. "Too bad your parents aren't here with your dad's business trip and all."

"I'm actually kind of relieved. My mother would probably be in the kitchen looking for the camera with Carly and I'm not sure really how my dad would react," I said, shuddering. Mikage let out a low snicker.

_Ding dong!_

"He's here!" Carly squealed, dashing back to my room. She crushed me in to a quick hug and whispered in my ear, "Good luck, Aki-san!" When Carly let go, Mikage embraced me less forcefully and smiled at me when she drew away.

"You know that if you two aren't together by the end of this school year, the girls and I are hunting you down and making you see the truth, right?" she asked me, winking.

I winked back. "Very funny, Mikage," I said as I walked away to answer the door. The doorbell rang again and I shouted, "I'm coming, I'm coming!"

"Sorry," I said, opening the door, my eyes still down on the lock. "Mikage and Carly are he-," I continued before looking up. Only three words could me at that very second; Complete. Systems. Shutdown. I couldn't see, couldn't feel, and couldn't hear anything but _him_. Black jacket and pants. Black Converse. Black tie. And a button-down the exact same color of his eyes.

He wore a look of shock that probably mirrored mine exactly. "Wow," we said in unison.

Yusei was the one who spoke first. "You look … amazing," he said.

Luckily, I had enough of a mind to respond quickly. (But not quickly enough.) "Well, you don't clean up so bad yourself."

Suddenly, I felt a push on my back and I crashed in to Yusei. "Shouldn't you two be going off to a dance?" I heard Carly ask from behind me. Before I could reach out and smack her, she slammed the door in my face. I sighed, turning back to the man who… had his arms around me. Crap.

"If you would let go, we should get going," I managed with great difficulty. He just grinned and released me.

"So what were those two going on about?" he asked me as we exited my building.

I let out a light laugh. "I'm not sure you _want_ to know," I told him. With that, I took him by the hand, ready for a new adventure unlike any one I had ever been on before.

When we entered the school's gym, (if you could call it that, as dueling was the only "sport" we played) we heard a blaring techno tune. Purple, dark pink, and indigo lights flashed from inside.

"What the hell is that?" Yusei asked without turning to me, most likely asking about the music.

"I… couldn't tell you," I said, giggling.

I heard him take a deep breath and then ask me, "Shall we?" Then, he opened the door and stood aside, waiting for me to go inside.

I stepped back a pace, slightly unnerved by his chivalry. Years of old prejudices against people from the Satellite, once dormant, were stirring up against my will. I had always been taught that people from Satellite were rough and rude, without proper manners. Yusei had taught me different, that Satellites weren't much different from us, just worse off. (Even though that had changed as well over the past couple of months.)

"Well?" he asked, snapping me out of my abstraction. Sapphire and amber were fighting a war of which amber would not return the victor.

I grinned, almost despite myself. "Thanks," I said, finally walking through. As the door shut behind us, another song started up.

Soon, many of the kids were in a line, taking three steps to the right and left and then doing four kicks, two on each foot, before doing a quarter turn. (A/N: I want to see how many of you can figure out the name of the dance I'm describing!)

I took one look at Yusei before he asked me, "Can we sit out for this one?"

I blinked. "Is Yusei Fudo… scared?" I asked, chuckling slightly.

"No!" he vehemently denied.

When I gave him a glance that said, "Really?" he replied, "Okay, maybe a little. Jack's the good one at this kind of stuff. It's always freaked me out, being in situations with tons of people where I'm not dueling." (A/N: Yusei just comes off to me as the kind of person who wouldn't be comfortable around a lot of people if a Duel Disk wasn't on his arm or a deck in his hand.)

"I can't believe _I'm_ the one saying this," I muttered.

"What?" he asked me.

I grinned, looking up at him. "Just be Yusei. You'll be fine."

"So you guys finally decided to come," a familiar voice snarled. I sighed.

"We weren't forced to attend, Ikumi- chan," I said, breathing harder than normal to keep my temper under control. I turned to the girl (whom I thought almost as a rival now) to see her wearing an ebony dress who's neckline plunged almost to the waist with a skirt barely even halfway through her thigh and strappy black heels. She appraised Yusei before saying, "Looks like you _actually _picked a good looking date."

"Thank you," I said, trying not to grit my teeth as I spoke.

"Um, I think we should find a table, Aki," the man next to me said, clearly ill at ease.

As we walked away, I said, "At least I didn't have to be a slut to get you." Yusei chuckled and told me I was mean. "What's your point?" I quipped.

"Yusei! Aki!" a recognizable voice shouted from across the gym. We both looked up to see Rua waving us over to two pushed-together tables.

"Hey, Rua! Where's Chiyako-san? I thought she asked you," I said.

"She's a little late," he said shamefully.

"If you can call thirty minutes late," Sly said from the very end of the table.

Rua glared. "Shut it, Sly, nobody asked your opinion," he said. "Have you seen Ruka or Tenpei anywhere?" he asked, turning to us.

"Nope, haven't seen 'em," I replied taking a quick glance around. "But isn't that Chiyako-san?" I said, my gaze landing at the punch table.

"Where?!" Rua asked excitedly, looking in the direction I indicated. Sure enough, there was the blue-bobbed girl, wearing a dark blue dress, her amber eyes scanning the crowd, probably looking for Rua.

"Chiyako-chan! Over here!" Rua cried out, waving her over to the table.

Immediately, her face brightened. "Rua-san!" she cried, running toward us. "Hi!" she said brightly, wrapping her arms around Rua, to which Rua seemed extremely pleased. When they parted, she said, "Hi, Izayoi- senpei, Fudo-senpei!"

Yusei and I were both taken aback at being addressed so formally. Finally, Yusei gathered enough of his wits to say, "Chiyako-san, you can just call us Yusei and Aki."

"Okay, Yusei-senpei, Aki- senpei!" the younger girl chirped. Yusei and I looked at each other, clearly seeing that there was no talking this girl out of the whole "senpei" thing. We both watched as Chiyako convinced Rua to go out on the dance floor as the song changed to something at an even faster pace, something I recognized as an old American song called "Into the Night". I couldn't help but smile. It was a heated summer song that I absolutely loved, that I always danced to when I had the chance.

"Yusei?" I asked.

"Yeah, Aki?" he replied, side-glancing me.

"Can we?" I trailed off, sending a look at the dance floor.

He chuckled. "I told you, Aki, Jack's the good one at this stuff," he said.

I pulled back a chair and plunked down into it. "They've got a term for people like Jack," I said.

"What's that?" he responded, raising an eyebrow.

I snickered. "Metro sexual," I said. Yusei let out a slight laugh.

"I'm going to go get us something to drink, alright?" he said, leaning into me. I struggled against the urge to blush and probably failed.

As Yusei walked off, I muttered, "And to make this chick flick moment complete, all I need is Crow to come up behind me and scare the crap out of me."

"Hi, Aki!" Crow yelled in my ear behind me, making me jump.

"Dammit, Crow!" I shouted, whirling around on the spiky-haired guy. Then it dawned on me. "Holy crap, I _am_ psychic!" When he gave me a bewildered look, I said dismissively, "Never mind."

"So… where's Yusei?" he asked me, the curious look never leaving his Marked face.

"Getting us something to drink," I responded. Crow snorted.

"How cheesy," he said.

"What do _you_ know about school dances?" I asked dubiously, raising an eyebrow.

"Until that Saturday with Carly, not a single damn thing," he replied. I couldn't help but crack a smile.

"So, when he gets back, are you going to try to convince him to dance?" he asked me.

"I've tried that twice, Crow," I said, a little irritated now.

Crow grinned. "Yusei's like you, Aki. You almost gotta force him to get him to do what you want, he's so stubborn," he informed me.

"I'm not stubborn!" I protested.

"You see, if you hadn't protested, I would take back my former statement. But, since you did…," he said, letting the sentence trail off.

I glared at him. "You really wanna grapple with a psychic?" I growled, clenching my fists and scanning his arm for the best place to punch. Then, I suddenly cracked a smile. "What happened, Crow? Did one of the kids spit up on you before you came?" I asked, snickering. He was wearing an awful green and red plaid jacket and pants. The pants just barely reached his ankles and his white socks showed.

It was his turn to glare. "That's a low blow, Aki, that's a low blow!" he cried.

"What's so funny?" Yusei asked from beside me, drinks in hand. Then, he took a quick glance at Crow. "Did one of your kids spit up on that thing before you came?"

Now Crow glared at Yusei. "Not helping, man," he muttered through gritted teeth.

Yusei glanced from me cracking up to Crow to back to me again and then it dawned on him. "Ah, bantering," he said, taking a seat next to me.

At Crow's quick glance at me, I said, "No, no, no." I got up and pulled Yusei to his feet.

"What are you doing?" he asked me, confused.

"I trusted you, now you have to trust me," I said. I smiled, remembering the Fortune Cup and the battle with the Dark Signers. Had it really only been eight months ago? It seemed like ages ago. So much in my life had changed. _I_ had changed. With Divine no longer in my life, I had grown up more in these past months than I had in eighteen years. Divine had told me he and the people in the Movement were the only ones who cared for me. But he was wrong. Now I had my parents, Mikage, Carly, the twins, their friends, Crow, Jack and most of all, Yusei. It's funny how it works, how you need someone to believe in you before you believe in yourself.

He grinned. "Point taken," he replied. A slow song started up, one I had never heard before. I pulled him into the right position and began to lead as the artist began to sing.

_I know we've been friends forever_

It certainly did feel like I had known Yusei forever. So why of all times did I feel weird now?

_But now I think I'm feeling something totally new_

_And after all this time I opened up my eyes_

_Now I see, you were always with me_

Now that I thought about it, from the beginning, like he said, Yusei had always been by my side, had always believed in me, even when I had made attempts to, if not kill, severely maim him.

_(Chorus)_

_Could it be you and I_

_Never imagined_

_Could it be suddenly I'm falling for you_

_Could it be that you were right here beside me _

_And I never knew_

_Could it be that it's true _

_And it's you and it's you_

I thought about the words. Could I _really_ be in_ love_, of all things, with _Yusei?_ No! I mean sure, I kind of had a crush on him, but it couldn't be much more than that. Could it?

_It's kinda funny you were always near_

_But who would ever thought that we would end up here?_

_And every time I need you, you've been there for me_

_Now it's clear I've been waiting for you_

Inwardly, I gasped. He was the one. For some odd reason, it was something I just seemed to know. I had always thought Divine had been, but the way I felt around Yusei was completely different. With Divine, I felt like I was on the ground and everything about my life, even me, was a dream. But, with Yusei, I felt like I was flying and for the first time, I felt, I don't know. Wait, yes I do. I feel like I'm finally something human and _real_.

_(Chorus)_

_Could it be you and I_

_Never imagined_

_Could it be suddenly I'm falling for you_

_Could it be you were right here beside me _

_And I never knew_

_Could it be that it's true _

_And it's you and it's you _

_(Bridge)_

'_Cause today is the start of the rest of our lives_

_I can see it in your eyes_

_And it's real, and it's true_

_And it's just me and you_

_Could it be that it's you_

_(Chorus)_

_Could it be you and I _

_Never imagined_

_Could it be suddenly I'm falling for you_

_Could it be that you were right there beside me_

_And I never knew_

_Could it be that it's true_

_And it's you and it's you_

The song ended and I smiled. "See," I said brightly. "Just like with dueling. You're a natural."

He smiled back. "Yeah," he replied. "I guess I am."

We stayed for about three more hours, and then, true to the gentler side of his personality, Yusei walked me home.

"Hey, Aki?" he asked me as we approached my apartment.

"Yeah, Yusei?" I replied, sideglancing him.

"Do you know who Crow was with?" he inquired. We stopped. I turned to him.

"I have no idea," I said and promptly began to crack up. Soon, his laughter joined mine.

As I reminisced on that night, I couldn't help but notice how well our laughter mingled as it rang up to the stars.


	6. You're Enjoying Yourself, Aren't You?

High School Never Ends

A/N: What up? Here's chapter six of 'High School Never Ends'! Like I say, never be afraid to send in ideas! They're always welcome! On with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own YuGiOh 5D's. All rights belong to Kazuki Takahashi.

**Aki's POV**

You know, in retrospect, I should've kissed him. I wanted to. Really bad. But I didn't. _Crap._

Luckily, there was no cheesy "I had a great time tonight" moment, as Carly and Mikage were waiting for me when I got home. Not only were they waiting, they were eavesdropping at my door.

"Don't you two have to go to work tomorrow?" I remember asking them as they hugged me at my door.

School went on without incident, at least for awhile. Most of the girls our age at school were still sulking over the fact that Yusei didn't go with them, though they glared at me whenever possible. (Even though, in my defense, it's their own damn fault for not asking him.) _That_ I definitely could've done without.

I leaned against my locker and sighed. "Just when I thought people were starting to like me," I muttered.

"People still staring at you?" I heard Yusei ask from beside me. I still jumped and banged my head against my locker.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" I asked myself, rubbing the back of my head.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Yusei said, gingerly touching the sore spot and making my heart race.

"It's fine," I said, gently batting his hand away.

"Yusei, Aki-neechan, come on!" we heard Rua call from the front of the school. We glanced at each other before joining the kids and Yusei smiled. I tried to smile back, but the moment I tried, a whole slew of girls glared at me. I sighed.

"Let's go," I said tonelessly, walking forward.

Yusei and I didn't say much until we got to the highway.

"Aki?" he asked. I looked up. He had his head slightly cocked to one side and his eyes were wide, giving him a puppy-like look. Inwardly, I laughed at the thought. Yusei looking like a puppy. Not an analogy I would normally use for my serious- eyed best friend. Granted, we were both serious people, but I was probably the more dynamic of the two of us.

Not now, though.

"Yeah?" I said.

"You didn't answer my question earlier," he observed. I tried to stall.

"What question?" I said.

"Aki," he said seriously.

I sighed again. "Yeah, people are still staring at me," I replied.

"Why?" he asked. "It's not because of your, um, _past,_ is it?"

My face flushed. I thought Yusei was smart enough to figure it out. "It's because of the Sadie Hawkins," I said.

"Right," he said. I looked back down, my blush fading. Only to have it start right back up again.

"Hey," he said, brushing his knuckles against mine. I cast my eyes down to our hands and blinked, my mind starting to go off track. I had never realized how different we were physically. I had always thought about how different we were on the inside that I had never really focused on the contrast of our appearances. In other words, I had never really appreciated how _dark_ Yusei was compared to me. His skin was a light almost coffee brown compared to the milk color of mine. My eyes were amber brown; his were a deep, almost lustful sapphire blue. My hair was magenta red all the way through; his was black with yellow highlights that most teachers at school weren't exactly pleased with, but the girls fawned over. We were a true blue couple of contrasts, physically and personality wise.

"Aki?" Yusei asked, shaking me from my thoughts. I looked back up and blushed. Way to get off track, Aki.

"Yeah?" I replied.

He smiled gently, the corners of his lips just turning up. "Don't worry about it, Aki," he said.

"But-,"I started until he braced a finger against my lips.

"Relax," he said, making my face go as dark as my hair.

I sighed for the third time in twenty minutes. "It's just really stressful. Just when I thought people were starting to get over the whole 'Black Rose Witch' thing, this happens and the whole cycle stared back up," I said. I winced. It sounded like I was blaming him for my plight.

"Well, are you happy we went?" he asked. I looked back up, surprised. I would've expected any normal person to be at least slightly angry at that confession, but Yusei was surprisingly even-tempered. Then again, Yusei wasn't exactly the kind of person I could fit in to my description of normal. "Well?" he asked.

I grinned brightly for the first time in days. "I did. It was the greatest night of my life," I said, laughing. I stopped suddenly at hearing my own laughter.

Yusei's grin only widened. "Then think about that. Don't let those girls at school bother you. Trust me, I've got your back," he told me.

Thinking about school made my face fall again. "Screw school," I growled.

This time, Yusei sighed. "Tell you what, let's go D-Wheeling on Saturday after school, wherever you want to go, just you and me," he said, smiling again.

"Is it safe?" I asked uncertainly.

"Not at the moment, but I can make some adjustments," he assured. When he saw the increasing uncertainty on my face, he said, "Please?" His eyes met mine and I melted.

"Okay," I said. "But don't _ever_ look at me like that again," I couldn't help but add. "Deal?"

Another grin stretched across his face. "Deal," he said.

That was Monday. It was now Saturday after school at the guys place. I had already changed into a normal set of riding clothes; jeans, a black V-neck short sleeve sweater, black sneakers, and a red leather bomber jacket. I was leaning against the side of the garage that was part of the apartment that the guys rented from an old friend of Martha's, Zora, waiting for Yusei to bring out the D-Wheel.

Then, I heard the distinctive rumble of Yusei's D-Wheel coming from the garage. He came out of the garage with the vehicle, one helmet on his head and another hanging on the crest of the motorcycle. He looked up at me and his eyes widened.

"What?" I asked, noticing his look.

Yusei shook his head. "Nothing," he said, looking away.

I pushed off the wall to stand and crossed my arms. "Sure doesn't seem like nothing," I said, walking toward him. I could feel the gentle sway of my hips as I walked. That made me stop. I got it. Yusei was _embarrassed_.

This could be fun.

"It really is nothing, Aki," he said.

When I finally reached the D-Wheel, I craned my head to meet Yusei's eyes. "You are, by far, the most _awful_ liar I have ever had the pleasure to meet," I said. I noticed that his face was red beneath the eye shield.

"It's just-,"he began, turning to me.

"Yes?" I asked.

"It's just that-,"he said again, hesitating.

"Yes?" I asked again, leaning forward.

Yusei finally relaxed, sighed and said, "You just look really good."

"How good?" I asked, smiling seductively.

"Better than you did at the dance," he replied. He noticed the smirk on my face and asked, "You're enjoying yourself, aren't you?"

"Immensely," I replied, winking. "So…, is it safe?" I asked, grabbing down the second helmet from the crest of the D-Wheel.

"Extremely. I made absolutely sure," he said.

"How many times?" I asked dubiously.

"About twice a day for the past week," he replied.

"You didn't have to check that often just for me," I said, surprised.

Yusei let out a short dry laugh. "I'm not facing your dad in court if you get hurt," he said. I laughed. "No, really, I'm going to be carrying precious cargo, and not just to your father," he said earnestly.

I blushed. "Precious cargo, huh?" I murmured, looking at my feet.

Then, one of the upper windows opened and Crow shouted out, "Don't you two have a date?"

"Shut up, Crow!" Yusei and I shouted in unison, both of our faces bright red.

Yusei sighed as Crow slammed the window shut and I jammed the helmet on my head, boarding the D-Wheel. "I keep telling him this is an outing between friends, _not_ a date," he said exasperatedly. Then he looked over his shoulder at me and smiled gently. "Ready to go?" he asked me.

I smiled back. "As I'll ever be," I said.

Yusei's smile only widened. "Then hold on!" he shouted, revving up the D-Wheel. Out of the primal instinct toward the loud noise, I immediately clamped on to Yusei's hard, lean waist, pressing my face into his shoulder. I could feel his laughter rumble through his chest at the act. I blushed. Hard.

When we got out on to the highway, strangely enough, is when I began to relax. From our point on the highway, I could see one of my favorite places in the whole world; a cliff by the sea with bushes upon bushes of roses ringing the edges and evergreens on the tip of the cliff. An oddity in Neo Domino, anywhere really, but to me it was also the most beautiful place in the world.

"Make a right here Yusei," I shouted over the wind, indicating the direction I wanted to go.

"Are you sure, Aki?" he said, looking at me quizzically over his shoulder. Ah, the puppy look again.

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing," I said.

"Okay, now I'm scared," he said, smiling.

I smacked him. "Just shut up and make a right," I said. He laughed as he did so.

When we arrived, he looked around, eyes wide. "This is where you wanted to come?" he asked, turning to me. I looked up from dismounting.

"Yeah, I found this place as a kid. I came here every time I couldn't stand being around people anymore. It's really peaceful here, even with the highway," I said. As I swung my leg over, my sneaker caught on the wheel, my body beginning to fall face first to the ground. A few seconds before impact, Yusei grabbed onto me, arms around me. I looked up to see him smiling, no, _smirking_, at me, like he had planned it all.

"Don't be a Carly on me, Aki," he said.

"Don't become a Jack," I replied, changing his smirk into a smile. I didn't know whether I wanted to kiss him or blow him to bits.

After a few seconds, I said, "You can let me go now."

"Oh, right," he said, letting me go and almost jumping back. I giggled.

"Yusei, come and see this," I said, walking to the edge of the cliff.

"Careful, Aki," he said, following me at a safe distance.

I pushed aside some branches of the evergreens. "Just look at this," I breathed. Soon, I felt his presence at my shoulder and heard him take in a breath.

"Wow," he whispered. Before us, the sun was setting on the sea, the sky layered pink, orange, violet, and blue. The water reflected these colors back, unfolding two watercolor paintings before us.

"It's exhilarating, isn't it?" I said, grinning.

"Now I see why you love it here," he said, laughing lightly.

"Every time I sit out here at this time, especially when the wind is blowing, I feel like I'm flying, like I'm in the clouds," I said.

"Flying, huh?" he said absentmindedly, probably still drinking at all in.

"Flying," I repeated, my smile widening. I felt a question, the one question that had been bubbling up in me all week, for awhile now, actually, rising up in me. The need to ask that question only intensified a few minutes earlier.

"Hey, Yusei?" I finally said after a few minutes.

"Yeah, Aki?" he responded. I could tell that I had his full attention now. I took a deep breath and went in for the kill.

"Will you teach me how to D-Wheel?"


	7. Satellite Had Plenty of Those

High School Never Ends

A/N: Hey, guys! I'm SO sorry I haven't written in such a long time, but I was stuck! I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, but my summer was busy and all the nervousness leading up to my freshman year wasn't helping either. I've also got one of my new little kittens climbing all over my key board. Anyway, like I say, never be afraid to send in ideas, okay? On with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own YuGiOh! 5D's. All rights belong to Kazuki Takahashi.

**Yusei's POV**

Well, I really couldn't say no to Aki, could I?

I have to admit, her question surprised me. She never really showed all that much interest in D-Wheeling before, except for maybe a few questions here and there.

Surprised or not, I readily answered her question, telling her, yes, I would teach her. Her whole face lit up, putting the sun behind us to shame. I couldn't help but smile at her expression.

"Fudo- san!" a voice called, snapping me back to the present. I looked around my locker, even though I really didn't have to. I knew who it was.

"Yeah, Ikumi- chan?" I replied and heard Aki suppress a sigh behind me. I tried to stifle a grin and almost failed miserably.

"What was last night's physics homework?" she burbled at me, an absurd smile on her face.

I faked a smile back. She did this often, to the point where it was getting annoying. "We had to read chapter seven out of the textbook," I replied.

"And we had to do pages 70 to 73 in the workbook, don't forget that," my red-haired companion said with phony cheer.

Ikumi- chan glared at her. "I don't remember asking you, Izayoi- san," she growled softly.

"Really?" Aki challenged. "I thought it was an open answer. By the way, that means anyone could answer it."

I could sense a catfight coming on.

"Why, you little-," Ikumi- chan started before Aki cut her off.

" 'You little' what?" Aki said.

"That's enough," I said evenly, standing between the two girls. I wasn't so sure about Ikumi- chan, but Aki wasn't someone to get near when her claws were out. I couldn't quite understand their problem with each other, though. When I first came here, there had been a lingering animosity, but it had only intensified over the past couple of months and the fights always seemed to be around or across me.

"Come on, Yusei," Aki said after a few moments, slamming my locker door closed and tugging at my hand. As we walked away, the other girl's face was bright red. I looked at Aki to see a fierce determination on her face, gripping my hand, our fingers laced tightly together.

"Uh, Aki, we can't see her anymore," I said, smirking.

"So?" she replied irritably, glancing up at me.

"You can let go of my hand now," I said.

"Oh!" she said, snatching her hand back, a blush staining her face. I chuckled. She slugged me in the arm, glaring at me.

"What are you laughing about?" she asked.

"Nothing, just remember, you're not mad at me," I replied.

She raised an eyebrow. "How can you be so sure?" she retorted.

I just looked at her and smiled and her frown wavered before she broke out into laughter. As her giggles trailed off, I said, "Just because I know you, Aki."

"That you do," she said, smiling back at me. I looked up from her to see people staring at us, wide-eyed.

"What?" I inquired and immediately, many of the onlookers looked away.

"So, when's our first lesson going to be?" Aki asked me.

"Whatever's good for you," I replied.

"But don't you work after school?" she asked me, eyebrows raised. She was right; I worked some mechanic jobs after school before doing homework.

"True," I said. "How about this, I give you my schedule for the next week, and we can see what works," I continued.

"I don't know…," Aki said, trailing off.

"Hey, it's all or nothing," I said, shrugging.

"Okay," she said uncertainly.

"Well, I only have three jobs to work this week, plus a check-up on a part transfer for a D-Wheel, so maybe this Friday after school?" I said.

"Sounds great," she said, smiling as we approached our first period. "Sounds really great."

"Where is she?" I muttered to myself, waiting for Aki to arrive.

"Nervous about seeing your girlfriend, Yusei?" Crow asked me, smirking.

"No. You?" I replied. Crow was going out with Carly again, the third date since that first one.

"A little," he admitted. Then, his smirk returned. "I noticed you didn't deny Aki is your girlfriend."

I had only noticed because he had pointed it out. "She's _not_ my girlfriend," I said.

"Oh, come on, man, it's obvious by the way you look at her that you _at least_ really like her," he said.

"Oh, really?" I replied, smiling. Bantering with Crow always helped to relieve at least some of my tension.

"Really," he confirmed.

"Have you kissed her yet?" I asked, changing the subject.

"The answer to that would be yes," Aki's voice came up from the stairway. "Actually, it's more like she kissed him, by the way Carly described it." I looked up, and then felt my heart leap up to my throat. She looked _amazing_ in a red riding suit with black accents. She had a helmet tucked under her arm.

"Thanks, Aki," Crow said sarcastically.

"No problem," she said brightly, descending the stairs.

In some strange way, the suit reminded me of the outfit she used to wear, almost like a weird combination of a Victorian style dress and an old military uniform from the eighties. I also remembered, even though I didn't want to, how well the dress fit her, to the point where every curve was to Divine's perusal. For some reason, this thought _really_ ticked me off.

"Uh, Yusei? Are you sick? If you are, we don't have to do this," Aki said, bringing me back from a fantasy of what I would do if Divine were still alive. It involved a chainsaw and a dark alley, by the way. Satellite had plenty of those…

"Yusei?" Aki said again.

"Yeah, uh, I'm fine, I was just thinking," I replied.

"About what?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing," I said. Then, her questioning look inspired a half-truth. "Actually, I was thinking about the surprise the guys and I put together for you."

"Surprise?" she inquired.

"Yeah," I replied, indicating a corner of the garage. "I kind of had to twist Jack's arm into doing this for you."

"How?"

"Some stuff about Mikage-san thinking he was really thoughtful for doing this for her best friend," I said.

"So you pulled out some cheesy crap out of a bad romance movie, and _Jack Atlas_ fell for it?" she asked. I nodded.

"I didn't have any stipulations, so you're welcome," Crow said, ascending the stairs, hands in his pockets.

"Thank you," Aki said absently, and then began to approach it.

I smiled to myself, trying to anticipate her reaction to what we had done as I followed her.

She suddenly stopped short, probably realizing what it was under the tarp in the corner of the room. "Yusei, this isn't-," she said, turning back to me. My grin widened and I removed the tarp. In front of us stood a red D-Wheel, built by the guys and me for Aki.

Abruptly, she whirled around and wrapped me in an embrace. Whatever I thought Aki's reaction would be, this was _definitely_ not what I was expecting. But, strangely, this felt extremely _right_ in a way, like this was the way things were supposed to be.

"Thank you so much!" she cried, drawing back with a smile. I beamed back.

"You'll thank me even more when you learn how to ride it," I responded.

"I thought you said I'd thank you when I learned how to ride it," Aki said exasperatedly after crashing for the umpteenth time in the past two hours.

"I did. The learning process just takes awhile with this thing," I said, helping to her feet and righting her D-Wheel.

"How long did it take you?" she asked me dubiously.

I thought about it for bit. "About a month," I said.

"A _month_?" she returned incredulously.

"You have to remember that when I learned, it was illegal and most anyone in Satellite would do something for some credibility and a quick buck. I had to learn quickly and quietly. I had no choice," I said. "Now, with that, do you go for another try?"

"No," she said without hesitating. "I'm too bruised and battered to _want _to try again."

"Oh, come on, don't be a baby," I said.

"I'm not a baby," she said, "I just don't want to try again."

"Fine, but you're going to have to pay me back for wasting my time," I stated.

She just stared at me. "Okay, who are you and what have you done with my best friend?" she finally said.

"It's really me, Aki," I replied.

"You can't be my best friend. My best friend's a nice guy. You're being mean," she said.

"So you're saying I'm a pushover now, huh?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. She laughed at this one.

"Okay, what do you want me to do?" she replied.

Again, I thought about it for a bit. But then Crow's earlier words came to me. 'Do I really want to take that chance?' I asked myself. I decided yes.

"Would you go to dinner with me next Saturday?" I invited.

I could tell my question caught her off guard. I worried internally that I had gone too far. But, she smiled and said, "I'd love to."

"Well," I said, "Dinner it is then."


	8. Rather Be an Idiot

High School Never Ends

Author's Notes: Hey guys, what's up? I'm back! Again, I return with the lame excuse of writer's block. I've noticed I haven't gotten any reviews for my other new story 'Glee'. If anyone would be willing to check it out, I would be grateful. First reviewer gets an Otis Spunkmeyer cookie! (I've been selling them for chorus.)Well, on with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own YuGiOh 5D's. All rights belong to Kazuki Takahashi.

**Yusei's POV**

"You did _what_?" Jack exclaimed.

I glanced up at my tall friend from my computer. "I asked her to dinner. What's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong with that?" he spat back, flecks of spit flying. "You just told me last week that you guys were just friends!"

"We are just friends," I said, looking back at my work. Jack slammed my screen shut, nearly taking my fingers with it. "Careful," I said complacently.

"I should be telling you the same thing," Jack grumbled, looking away.

"Jack, this is Aki we're talking about here," I said exasperatedly.

"Yusei, when are you going to wake up and realize she's into you?" he replied, crossing his arms in the typical Jack Atlas manner.

"Aki? Please," I said, rolling my eyes.

"She is!" he interjected. "How come the rest of us are the only ones that can see it?" Then he stopped and said, "Lord, I feel like I'm in a really trite chick flick."

"Okay, now I'm confused. Do you want me to go out with her or not?" I said, pushing my chair back.

"Yes! I'm just trying to figure out how you really feel about her," Jack said, finally leveling his gaze on me.

"Jack, haven't we gone over this before?" I said.

He turned away. "I feel like I'm banging my head into a brick wall," he said quietly, but full of frustration.

"What do you want to know, Jack?" I said, raising my voice at him, something I had only done a few times in my life.

"How do you _really _feel about Aki? To you are you just friends or are you worth something more? Because it seems to the rest of us that she seems to think so. Do you really want to put her through the pain of not reciprocating? Don't you think she's had enough heartbreak in her life?" he challenged.

"Of course I do!" I replied. Jack was really starting to tick me off.

"Then answer that one simple question; How do you feel about her?" he growled.

I sighed and tilted my head back, closing my eyes. "I'm crazy about her. She drives me insane. Every second I'm not with her, somewhere in my mind, I'm thinking about her. I've never felt like this before," I replied. Then, I looked back up at Jack's triumphant face and asked, "Are you happy?"

He smirked and said, "Very."

I gulped, thinking, 'What had I gotten myself in to?'

_Flashback_

"_Hey, Aki!" I said, walking towards our respective lockers._

_She looked up, surprised. "Oh! Good morning, Yusei!" she replied with a smile._

"_You ready to pay me back tonight?" I asked her, again, fumbling with my locker._

"_Ass," she said, punching me in the arm, making me laugh. "Yeah, I'm ready."_

"_Good," I said._

_Then, she began chewing her lip. "What is it?" I asked, concerned._

"_It's nothing really," she said. When I raised an eyebrow, she sighed and murmured, "Papa wants to talk to you before we go."_

_End Flashback_

I reached for the doorbell, wondering what Senator Izayoi could possibly want to talk about. Most likely my intentions with his daughter. There was a very large chance that Aki wouldn't be there for the talk. That made me very nervous, even more than I already was. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I feared that his thanks for saving his daughter wouldn't exactly extend to me taking her out to dinner. Somehow, if I screwed up, I feared the Izayoi's wouldn't like me, and that was a very unpleasant thought.

I barely rang the bell, and suddenly there was Mrs. Izayoi, giving me the impression she was waiting at the door. "Yusei! So nice to see you!" she gushed.

"The pleasure's mine, Mrs. Izayoi," I said, smiling. I had never really spoken to Aki's mother, but I felt an automatic affection for her, a combination of her warm personality and Aki's striking resemblance to her.

"Come in, come in," she said, waving me inside.

After taking my boots off, I followed the red-haired woman in to a spacious living room, where the senator was waiting.

"Anata," she said, "Yusei's here."

"Evening, Senator," I said, inclining my head to the older man.

"Good evening, Yusei," he said, standing and grinning at me.

We exchanged pleasantries and sat, me on the couch, he in an easy chair. I looked up the stairs, which I could only guess was where Aki was.

"My daughter's not coming down anytime soon, Yusei," the senator said, smiling.

I grinned back. "Right. Sorry, sir. What is it you want to talk about?" I asked. Strike one.

Aki's father's grin widened. "Aki always said you were a very direct individual," he muttered. Then, he cleared his throat and said, "I just want to talk about your intentions with my daughter." Strike two.

"My only intentions with Aki are dinner as friends," I said simply.

"And if it turns in to something more?" he asked.

I had thought about this on the drive there, but discounted it as impossible. "I'll let it play out," I said.

"Are you sure?" he asked. Then, I heard the implication in his voice.

"Sir, I would never, ever consider doing that with your daughter," I replied sincerely. I cared for Aki far too much to even think about it.

"Good," he said. At my expression, he said, "I had a feeling you'd come here caring what I thought of you as a person." Strike three.

Suddenly, I heard a feminine sigh from atop the stairs, too young to be Mrs. Izayoi and Aki's voice called down, "Papa, can I come down now?"

"Yes, Aki, we're done here," the senator called up.

"Thank the Lord," Aki said, descending the stairs. I smiled at the sight of her. She wore a red dress with black leggings, black flats, a white long-sleeved shirt underneath the dress and a denim jacket. "What?" she said when she caught my eye.

"Nothing," I said. "I just was thinking that whoever said redheads couldn't wear red and look good was wrong." Aki turned pink and I smiled inwardly.

She frowned and pulled me to my feet, proceeding to drag me out the door. "Bye, Papa, Mama! I'll give you a call when I get home!" she called, pulling the door shut behind us. Then, she whirled around on me and asked, "Was that really necessary?"

"What? Saying you look good in red?" I asked. When she nodded curtly, I said, "It's true, though."

"But why in front of my parents? And tell me the truth or I'll eviscerate you," she threatened. I chuckled. Then I thought about why I had.

"I guess I kind of forgot they were there," I admitted finally.

"So the rest of the world fell away and all you saw was me?" she asked, raising one thin eyebrow.

"Yeah," I said hesitantly.

"Holy crap, it's like we're in a bad chick flick," she muttered. I laughed out loud and when she gave me a look, I said, "It just reminds me of something Jack said earlier this week."

Rather than pursuing this idea, she asked me as we approached my D-Wheel, "Where are we going?"

"This place Crow took Carly one time. He says the food's good and it's really cheap," I replied.

"You're really taking _Crow's_ advice?" she inquired, crossing her arms.

"You're mean," I replied.

"It all comes with the territory of being me, Yusei," she said. When we came to my D-Wheel, she turned and asked me, "So, where are we going?"

" 'Breadstix'?" Aki asked dubiously. "That's the name of that place in 'Glee'."

I turned to look at her. "Run that by me again," I said.

She sighed. "When they came back from one of their business trips, the twins' parents brought them some shows on DVD that they thought the two of them might like from America. Rua got this show called 'White Collar' and Ruka got something called 'Glee'. 'Glee' is about a bunch of high school misfits in a small town who are in this thing called a show choir, where they sing and dance for competitions. In this show, anytime they go out somewhere, they go to this Italian place called Breadstix," she explained.

"How do you know all this?" I asked her, surprised.

"The girls and I go to each other's places once a week and watch it," she said.

I considered this, then said, "Shall we go in?"

She smiled. "Yusei, there's no need to be so formal, it's just me," she said.

I grinned back. "Fair enough," I said. With that, we entered.

When we were taken to a table, I pulled out Aki's chair and let her sit before pushing it in and taking my own seat. I looked our waitress's, a petite blonde, face to see unmasked surprise and watch her eyes fly to my marker.

When she noticed I was watching her, she jumped and stuttered, "Um, my name's Kasumi and I'll be serving you tonight. What would you like to drink?"

We both ordered water and then Kasumi-san ran off, flushed. "What was that all about?" Aki asked, watching her leave.

"Hello," I said, pointing at my left cheek. "You're kind of with a convicted criminal here."

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I'm with my best friend, Yusei Fudo. The criminal part is just an unfortunate facet of him."

I wasn't sure about how to respond to this. But, it turns out I didn't really have to as at the entrance, I heard a woman say, "Ayah, would it kill you to dress a little more ladylike?"

"Damn it," Aki said, "_They're_ here."

"Who?" I said, beginning to look over my shoulder.

"Don't look, baka!" she said, flicking me in the temple.

"Ow! What was that for?" I asked, rubbing the side of my head.

"It's the Ikumis!" she said.

"Guys don't care about _ladylike_ anymore, Mom. If you had it your way, I'd be dressing like a prude," I heard Ikumi-chan say.

"If boys like the way you dress, then why can't you get that Yusei boy you're always talking about?" the woman, who could've only been her mother, said. My eyes widened at the mention of my name.

"_Because_, Mother, that Izayoi girl has her claws sunk in to him," Ikumi-chan replied.

"Oh, but, Ayah, your brother has such nice things to say about Izayoi-chan," her mother stated.

Ikumi-chan sighed. "If you haven't noticed, Mom, he's in tutoring every day after school," she said.

"And if you haven't noticed, Ayah, his grades are higher than yours, so if you want to take a stab at his smarts, I suggest you join him." Their voices were approaching us now. Aki was snickering and I was trying to send her warning signals. But, it was too late.

"Speak of the devil," Ikumi-chan said, now right by our table. She wore a short denim miniskirt, (A/N: I know that sounds redundant, but this _is _Ikumi-chan we're talking about.) a black corset-like shirt, and thigh-high black leather boots. "Literally," she muttered, quietly enough so that her mother couldn't hear her. Aki glared at her.

"Oh, Izayoi-chan, what a pleasure to see you!" Mrs. Ikumi said brightly, smiling at Aki. Then, she turned to me and said, "And who's this?"

"Mother!" Ikumi-chan cried, obviously mortified. "He's not a child!"

I stood and said, "My name's Yusei Fudo, ma'am."

"So you're Yusei! How nice to meet you," she said. "Ayah has said so much about you."

"Has she?" I asked, stealing a look at Aki as Mrs. Ikumi looked at her daughter. Aki's face said quite clearly, "Get on with it, lady."

"Mom," Ikumi-chan said through gritted teeth, "We should probably go find Dad and Haru."

"Right," she said, going to follow her daughter. "So nice to meet you, Yusei-san!" she called over her shoulder.

"The pleasure is mine!" I called back, taking my seat .

Aki looked at me, then said, "Wow, you handled that rather well. I was sure that I was going to sic Black Rose Dragon on her mom and then tear Ikumi's throat out."

"That's a little graphic, don't you think?" I responded. Aki just shrugged.

"I just really don't like her," she replied.

"That I can understand," I said, "but do you really have to take it out on her mom, too?" At this, Aki laughed, a warm, strangely bubbly sound.

"No, I guess not," she said as I watched Kasumi-san approach us with our water. She kept her eyes on me as she set them down, occasionally glancing at Aki.

Suddenly, a mischievous glint appeared in Aki's amber eyes and I cast a glance at her, wondering what she was thinking.

"Kasumi-san?" she asked, to which the blonde girl snapped up her head to look at her. I had a feeling I knew what she was doing, but I couldn't be sure.

"Yes?" Kasumi-san said quietly.

"You have to promise not to tell, but ; do you know who this is?"

"Our poor waitress," I said. We were at the Spot, as we had taken to calling Aki's place. I know, really creative, right? "Did you really have to scare her like that?"

"I'm sorry, I just felt like she would show you a little more respect if she knew who you were," Aki responded.

"Yeah, and then she didn't look at me the rest of the night," I said, to which Aki giggled. It was a clear, star-filled night, but it was just a tad cold. Aki had buttoned her jacket and the fact that we were right by the sea didn't help. But, otherwise, it was perfect.

A gentle breeze began to blow toying with our hair and clothes and Aki leaned on her hands and tilted her head back, a small smile on her face.

"Why can't everyday be like this?" she asked. I figured that this question was rhetorical, but me being me decided to answer anyway.

"Because life would be boring without variety," I said simply.

"True," she said, sitting back up. "But it is a pretty night."

'With a pretty girl,' I remember thinking. Then, without really thinking it through, I moved closer to Aki, tilting my head to one side. I remember growing closer to her and closing my eyes, then hesitating. Would she reciprocate, or push me away, thus destroying our friendship? I soon got my answer.

Aki's lips meshed with mine and I smiled against her mouth, my heart rate picking up. When she broke the kiss, all of my words came out in a rush.

"You drive me insane. I can't stop thinking about you. Every second I'm not with you, somewhere in my mind, I'm thinking about you. It's a weird feeling, but this much I know; I'm crazy about you, Aki Izayoi," I said, barely backing off to say this.

"Yusei," Aki said. We stayed like that for a little bit.

But then she smiled and whispered, "Baka."

As we kissed again, I thought I'd rather be an idiot everyday if that meant loving Aki.

Author's Notes: For those of you who didn't get the whole strike thing, I meant that each thing Yusei expected to happen did, thus somewhat easing his fears.


End file.
